I think this could be it Lakers' fans. The so-called dream team with four future hall of famers and a hall of fame coach will be dismantled in the upcoming months.
Now I know what Dallas Cowboy fans felt (not bandwagon fans, but REAL fans from Dallas). The Cowboys of the 90s were the team that everyone loved to hate. I have been a Laker fan ever since I was old enough to remember liking basketball (I grew up 40 minutes outside of L.A.). Now that the Pistons have won the NBA championship, crushing the Lakers in five games, I know that there are many people rejoicing--not just Piston fans, but also those people who love to hate the Lakers. Everyone else celebrates, while you lick your wounds.
Don't get me wrong, if you love to hate the Lakers, there was a lot to love in this series. As a Laker fan I see any one of the following reasons contributing to their demise:
1) Karl Malone's reinjured knee
2) Gary Payton's selfish ball-handling
3) the Ref's deciding that the Lakers don't deserve as many fouls called, and simultaneously deciding that the Pistons deserve every, small hint of contact (and for those of you who think this is sour grapes, the stats don't lie, and it's not all because of the Pistons Defense, which was very, very good...the Lakers were the most fouled team during the regular season, and suddenly for one seven game series, a team who doesn't go to the foul line that much doubles them up every single game in free throw attempts and fouls called...as much as I AM a Laker fan, those stats are just plain weird, odd, and DID affect the way that L.A. played defense against Detroit).
4) Kobe's untimely cold streak
5) the inability of anyone not named Shaq or Kobe to score
6) YES, the Pistons awesome defense and hustle
7) the Lakers loss of game one at home (bigger than you think)
8) the lack of another player on the bench who could provide a solid rebounding presence (beyond Shaq and Karl Malone)
9) old age (Karl and Gary aren't young pups anymore)
10) the play of Devon George on both offense and defense
11) see #10 above for Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, Gary Payton, etc.
That's all I can think of right now. SIGH. Well at least now I don't have to be distracted from my revisions.
Posted by Frank Yamada at June 16, 2004 02:41 AMRe: your comments about the officiating -- just keep reading -- that's one of the reasons I never got into basketball. Other than in or out of bounds, who touched the ball last and traveling, it seems to me that every call is a judgment call by the officials. Compare that to football -- the only true sport -- where late hits, intentional grounding and PI are about the only judgment calls. And I agree that an official's judgment can have an impact on the game. Now, whether or not they "decided" ahead of time to call fouls different is something else, but it sure makes it tough to obtain any sense of consistency.
And, nothing personal, but I am glad the Pistons won.
Posted by: Reverend Ref at June 16, 2004 05:29 PMLet me make one thing clear: the Pistons whooped the Lakers (esp. in games 3 and 5), no ifs ands or buts about it. If Kobe doesn't make the miracle three in game two, the Lakers would have got swept. I also agree that there is no way of knowing whether or not the officials decided ahead of time to be harder on the Lakers. Your point, however, is right on the money. Basketball officiating (and I would argue strikes and balls in baseball) is still way to subjective of a science and CAN determine the outcome of a game. The Pistons won games three and five outright. They out-hustled the Lakers, got second chance points, etc. In games one and four, however, it was much closer. In those games, the Lakers have a much better chance of winning at least one and maybe both if Detroit doesn't go to the free throw line twice as much as the Lakers. In those games, the officials played a significant role in the outcome. At the very least, even Laker-haters have to admit that there was a huge discrepancy between how the refs called fouls for and against the Lakers during the rest of the season (including the playoffs) and how the officials called the games in the finals.
Posted by: Frank at June 16, 2004 07:27 PMThere's a tremendous amount of judgement in calling a baseball game, and it ain't just balls and strikes.
A lot of fans, players and coaches will complain about the calls that they believe are "obvious" mistakes. ("The umpire lost the game for us with that call!") But an umpire can easily influence a game in ways that no one would ever notice, certainly in ways where the "victim" would have no recourse.
IMO, it has to be pretty bad to notice the kind of pattern that the stats show for the Finals. But if one team doesn't even "show up," what the officials do really doesn't matter.
You forgot Kobe’s reluctance to get the ball to Shaq. . . .
Posted by: AKMA at June 17, 2004 08:14 PM